The present invention relates to a low mass harness and loading link that can be used for closely simulating actual road induced loads on a vehicle wheel and tire during simulated service testing.
Road simulators for testing automotive suspension systems, tires and axles, have been widely used in the prior art. Examples of such simulators include U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,656 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,034, both of which provide a way of simulating or emulating actual tire loadings on the suspension systems.
However, loading in a lateral direction of a tire to simulate lateral loads on the contact surfaces between the tire and the road has been a problem to precisely simulate, without compensation, because any mass that is added tends to influence the test results. Applying direct lateral loads at the plane of contact between the road and the tire is difficult under dynamic loading due to loss of load and position during wheel-hop events.